In the field of meat cutting, it is well known that equipment such as butchering saws are provided with dual activation controls. Dual activation controls typically consists of a pair of triggers to be operated by the user by depressing one each with each hand. The dual activation controls are provided so that when the saw is operated, the user's hands are secured to the saw and thus cannot be in danger from contacting the moving blade.
It is also well known that such safety devices are employed on many other types of equipment whose operation creates an inherent danger to the operator's body. Common to this type of equipment are punch presses or other types of equipment wherein the operator is required to position a workpiece with his/her hands and then activate the equipment, thus endangering the operator's hands when in the area of the workpiece.
Further, it is well known that operators of such equipment are prone to tie down one of the activation controls such that only one hand is required to operate the equipment. However, when such tie-down is accomplished, the operator has bypassed the safety feature and once again places his/her body in danger.
Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide a means for preventing the tie-down of the activation controls of equipment provided with dual activation controls, thus insuring the use of both of the operators hands when operating the subject equipment.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide such a device which is of such size to allow the retro-fitting of existing equipment by placing the device within the existing trigger cavities of the equipment.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a device which will allow the retrofitting of existing equipment by placing the device within existing cavities with previously configured wiring connections.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a device for preventing the tie-down of the activation controls wherein the device is configured in such a way as to prevent installation which would allow single-switch operation of the equipment.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide such a device for preventing the tie-down of one of the activation switches wherein the wiring of the switches may not be altered in order to obtain one-switch operation capability.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide such a device wherein diagnostic capability is provided for assurance of proper operation as well as for determining failure points within the activation system of the equipment.